What nobody tells you about taking a career break (and how to emotionally prepare for one)

In 2022, I felt the calling to take a step back from work and re-evaluate the things most important to me. I explained my decision in the previous article, “<a href="https://medium.com/@clairecgong/how-i-knew-it-was-time-to-quit-my-job-for-a-career-break-and-how-it-is-going-one-year-in-1b946370788a" rel="noopener">How I knew it was time to quit my job for a career break (and how it is going one year in)</a>”. The TL;DR is that it has been an incredibly rewarding journey, though not one without its fair share of challenges. I’ve learned a tremendous amount about my unhealthy relationship with productivity and my fears of uncertainty. By allowing myself time to travel, visit family, and learn new skills, I rediscovered the inspiration that had been buried over time. The following is part 2 of my Career Break series where I share the honest realizations from the struggles I faced and how I navigated it. If you are at a similar crossroads in life, I hope that my experience can help provide a more realistic picture of the less romanticized parts of this endeavor — and why I still believe it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made. <h1>Takeaway 1: Define your personal definition of enough, or the hamster wheel will follow you</h1> Detaching from the overachievement mentality was way harder than I anticipated. After the first couple of fulfilling months of traveling and doing volunteering projects, I had a period of down time where I was between destinations. This was when the comparison trap started getting a hold of me. <a href="https://medium.com/@clairecgong/what-nobody-tells-you-about-taking-a-career-break-and-how-to-emotionally-prepare-for-one-d01ca57b6bfa">Visit Now</a>